Earth, I love thee well;
And well dost thou requite me.
I have no tongue to tell
How this day thou hast thrilled
With wonder, to delight me,
My heart, intensely stilled.
On the white--walled knoll I stand
And feel beneath me glowing
The noon--hushed, lovely land:
Hills beyond hills, and few
Far towns a faint crest showing
Faint in the rounding blue.
Blue sea and radiant sky,
Blue sky and mountain marry;
And the mind, raised up on high,
Onward and onward springs;
Where'er she choose to tarry,
On every side are wings.
To the sun the sun--bathed pines
Their strength and sweetness render.
From where the far foam shines
Like the rim of a dazzling shield,
All fervent things and tender
Life, joy, and perfume yield.
Me, too, with mastering charm
From husks of dead days freeing,
The sun draws up, to be warm
And to bloom in this sweet hour;
The stem of all my being
Waited to bear this flower.
